The three boys, who the Daily Herald is not naming due to their ages, reportedly left their home in October 2022 and were picked up by someone and transported to the southern part of the state, according to American Fork police.

In Friday’s release, Lt. Stuart Fore said it was suspected that their father, with help from family, may have orchestrated the disappearance and helped hide the children.

“The father and family are members of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints faith,” the release noted.

Fore said American Fork police have worked closed with authorities in Washington County over the past two years to locate the teens.

This past August, police in Fredonia, Arizona, received information that the children were in the area.

Officials working with the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona and other agencies were successful at locating and retrieving the children.

According to a press release issued by the Fredonia Police Department earlier this week, the minors were reunited with their mother in early September, though news of the recovery was not issued until Wednesday.

Police also said the children’s grandmother and aunt were arrested by Arizona authorities for their part in the incident.

American Fork police and authorities in Fredonia thanked all the agencies and family members who assisted with the safe return of the children.

An investigation is ongoing.